A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been
by Maxine-san
Summary: 34year old Heero Yuy gets a chance to see what his life could have been like had he made some different decisions along the way. Will he regret the direction his life was originally going? Based off of the movie 'The Family Man' Chapters 1 through 4 up!
1. Chapter 1

A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been- Chapter 1

_disclaimer_ - GW's not mine!

_notes_ - Yeah, so I'll warn you all now, this fic hasn't been updated since like 2001. But, I figure if it's here, you know, posted _somewhere_ at least, then maybe one day I'll finish it. I still remember exactly where it was going, so it wouldn't be too difficult... :)

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Thirty-four year old Heero Yuy sat at his desk in the one of the most spacious offices in one of the biggest computer companies of the era. He was spouseless, childless, and had plans to stay that way for a while. Thus, he hardly ever went on dates. When he did, it was mainly for business. Heero Yuy was very dedicated to his job. So dedicated, that he had even dropped being a part time Preventor so he could devote his full time to STCA (Security Tight Computer Association), the company's name. Since he had gotten his job there, approximately fourteen years ago, the company's sales had skyrocketed, and they had surpassed all other companies' in security and safety from viruses and such. They were so big, that they almost had a monopoly over the Computer Market. Almost. For as long as he could remember, Heero Yuy had always been dedicated fully to whatever task he had to complete. However, he hadn't always been single. That's another story though.

Heero glanced up as a newspaper was slammed down on his desk. One glance at the front page caused him to flinch involuntarily, though it was unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know him well. That "other story" that was finished so long ago was being read again...for the third time, to be exact.

"Peacecraft's engaged," a blonde haired, green eyed man spoke. Heero tore his eyes away from the picture.

"Go ahead, say the rest, Brad." The man, now known as Brad, smiled.

"For the third time," he said. "Think it'll last this time?" Heero sighed. No one here knew that he knew the Vice Minister quite well. They would most likely never find out. Heero knew for a fact that the engagement wouldn't last now that it was out in public. They'd probably been engaged for the past couple months, but now that the press had found out, she would probably break it off again. She hated public attention. She...Relena. Heero quickly refocused his mind to the question that was asked.

"Probably not," he replied. "It never does." Brad nodded in agreement, and the conversation was over. They moved on to more important topics, like the new deal they had to make with another company. Heero's mind kept drifting to the call he knew he would be getting later that day. From Duo Maxwell, the only pilot he actually kept in contact with. Though it was not by choice. Duo insisted on calling him at least once a month, and Heero always joined the Maxwell's for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and more often than not, both. Quatre had tried to keep in contact with him, up until Heero got the announcement of he and Dorothy's engagement. That was years ago though, and he had never gotten an invitation for the wedding. That meant that either they really hadn't invited him, which he doubted, or they had never gotten married. Heero wasn't sure, and he hadn't really heard from Quatre since. Trowa wasn't the type to initiate a conversation, but then again, neither was Heero, so those two never bothered to call each other. All he knew was that Trowa had given up his job at the circus and was now working as a full time Preventor, alongside Wufei and Sally. Heero never heard from Wufei and Sally either. They had had a small, private wedding, so Heero hadn't attended. Last he'd heard, Sally was pregnant.

Heero wasn't surprised in the least when the vid phone beeped, though Brad jumped a little. Duo lived on L2, so it was later there than it was on L3, where Heero's company was located. That meant Duo had gotten a newspaper hours ago. Heero nodded as Brad said he'd leave so Heero could take the call, and turned the screen on. Sure enough, Duo's excited face showed up on screen immediately.

"Hey Heero!" Duo said in greeting. He quickly continued, "Your girlfriend's engaged again, buddy!" Heero had to fight back a growl.

"Duo, she's NOT my girlfriend. I haven't seen her in fifteen years," Heero said, making sure to glare at Duo, who didn't seem affected by it.

"Yeah yeah. So, are you gonna go crash the wedding? You know, fly in and sweep her off her feet and tell her you're sorry for ever leaving and that you love her with all your-"

"Duo!" another voice scolded, right before Hilde's face popped up behind Duo's. "Are you pestering Heero again?" A young boy, around the age of five or so, climbed up onto Duo's lap.

"Uncle Heero?" the boy questioned.

"Hey Dan," Heero said, giving the boy a small smile.

"Are you coming over tomorrow?" Dan asked with big, hope filled eyes. Heero blinked.

"Tomorrow?" he asked, looking towards Duo and Hilde for an answer. Duo rolled his eyes.

"Hellooooo? Thanksgiving is tomorrow. You're coming." It wasn't a question. Heero shrugged.

"If you don't mind putting up with me again this year."

"Heero, you know we love having you over!" Hilde exclaimed.

"Then I'll be there bright and early."

"Great! Danny, come help Mommy in the kitchen," Hilde said, leading Dan away by the hand.

"Bye Uncle Heero!" the small boy waved. Heero waved back, sort of.

"So," Duo spoke up. "What were we saying?"

"I wasn't saying anything. You were over there making up your own story tales." Duo smiled sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, right. But really, what're you going to do?" Heero sighed exasperatedly.

"Duo, when will you get it in your head that I have NO interest in Relena anymore? I haven't seen her in fifteen years, she's moved on, I've moved on, now YOU need to move on."

"No, she stayed put, YOU were the one that moved and left her," Duo said, narrowing his eyes a little. Heero threw up his hands slightly.

"For heaven's sake Duo! Why are you bringing this up now? There is no point to this conversation! Besides, she'll break off the engagement now that the media knows."

"How can you be so sure?" Duo asked skeptically.

"Just wait and see. It'll happen. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. I'll see you tomorrow." Before Duo could reply, Heero cut the connection. He stared at the screen for a few seconds, then started working again.

Hours later, Heero finally left the office and headed for his apartment. Halfway there, he remembered that he had no food at home, so he took a detour to a Food Mart. Heero was walking down the isle picking up only the things that he needed most. As he turned the corner, he stopped abruptly to keep from running into the man who was also turning the corner. The man mumbled a quick apology and Heero nodded, before moving on. He'd only taken a couple steps when he heard the man call out his name. Heero froze. The man called out HIS name. He turned around sharply and narrowed his eyes. A quick glance over of the man was all he needed to determine that he did not know him.

"That is your name, right?" the man continued. Heero nodded his head slowly.

"How did you know?" The man smirked.

"You destroyed the base I was at during the war-" Heero stiffened. "-in Wing Zero."

"How can you be sure it was me?" Heero asked. The man shrugged.

"It was you." He waved a hand dismissively. "But that's not important. You were just doing your job, or mission, or whatever. I just recognized you and I found it kind of...amusing to see you grocery stopping. But it just shows that you do live a normal life, so I was going to ask how you were faring after the war. If that's alright, that is." Heero stared at the man warily, but then relaxed a little.

"Well, thank you for your concern. I'm doing fine. I got on with life. Yourself?" The man smiled.

"I'm doing great. Married with kids and grandkids even." He eyed Heero. "I have everything I could possibly want. What about you?" Heero blinked. He felt like the man was testing him or something.

"I-I have everything I want." Ok, why didn't he sound so sure about that? The man's smile turned into a smirk.

"Do you? You're sure?"

"...Yeah," Heero said after minute.

"Well then, we'll just see about that. I'll let you go on your way now, thank you for your time." He held out a hand. "My name's Cliff, by the way. Maybe I'll see you around." Heero looked at Cliff's hand before taking it with his own.

"Pleasure meeting you," he mumbled. Cliff started to walk away.

"I hope you realize what you want and need before too long. And remember, your actions decide your fate," the man called as he walked off. Heero stared after him. What the hell did that mean? He shook his head slightly before continuing his shopping.

At home, Heero cringed at one of the TV Dinners he had bought. They were unhealthy, he knew, but sometimes he didn't feel like cooking, and he always worked out, so... Heero tossed the package into the microwave. He walked into the living room, and picked up the remote control. Flipping to some random channel, he plopped down on the couch. His eyes started drooping after a minute, and before long he had fallen asleep. It would be a while before he'd wake up on that couch again.

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Man, I remember I busted out four chapters of this fic in about two weeks...and then didn't update it for four years. :sweatdrop: I still know exactly what was going to happen and everything! Must get around to finishing this one of these days...

-Maxine


	2. Chapter 2

A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been -Chapter 2

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Heero awoke the next morning, blinking his eyes wearily at the ceiling above him. He groaned a little, a stretched his arms up above his head. When he brought they back down, he noticed several things. One, his hands had landed on something warm and soft. Two, the warm and soft thing groaned and shifted positions, proving that whatever it was, was alive. Three, whatever it was, it knew his name. And four, Heero recognized the voice that had mumbled his name. He was now wide-awake. Glancing down sharply, his eyes rested on a head of dirty blonde hair that was currently using his stomach as a pillow. Suddenly, the head turned, and light blue eyes blinked at him. Heero froze, and his eyes widened.

"Morning honey," a still half-asleep Relena mumbled, resting her chin on his chest.

"R-Relena," Heero muttered in shock. He couldn't help himself.

"Who else would it be?" Relena asked, smiling. She reached up and planted a quick kiss on Heero's lips. He was still too stunned to do anything about it. "I guess we should get up," she said, pulling herself out of bed. She threw on a robe. "Our guests will be here soon."

"Guests?" Heero asked numbly. Relena eyed him.

"You didn't forget, did you? Today's Thanksgiving." Heero nodded slowly. That's right, Thanksgiving. He was supposed to be going to Duo's house, but instead he was at Relena's palace. He recognized the bedroom, even though he technically had not seen it in fifteen years. This wasn't where he was supposed to be. Heero jumped out of bed suddenly, and looked quickly around the room. He was already wearing sweat pants, so he found a shirt and threw on some shoes, before running towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Relena asked, walking towards the bathroom door. He stopped.

"Uh...I was going to get some...coffee! I'll be right back." Relena held out a hand to stop him, but Heero was already out of the room. She shook her head, and entered the bathroom.

Heero walked quickly down the hall, a million thoughts racing through his head. He was at Relena's place! How could he possibly be there? A better question was WHY was he there? And who were these guests? He probably didn't even know them, but he would have to pretend he did. They were most likely a bunch of old delegates. Heero ran a hand through his hair. His feet had unconsciously taken him to right to the kitchen. Well, a cup of coffee couldn't hurt. He was about to walk in when one of the cooks came up behind him.

"Excuse me, Sir," the cook said. "I need to get into the kitchen." Heero turned around to move, and froze. He glanced closer at the face, and his eyes widened.

"You!" he accused, shoving a finger in the man's face. "Cliff, right? What did you do to me!" Cliff smiled.

"So you recognized me. Don't worry, this isn't permanent."

"What isn't?" Heero asked.

"This life," Cliff replied. "It's a glimpse."

"A glimpse of what?"

"Well, you said you had everything you wanted, but I didn't really think that was true. In a few weeks, you should figure out if that was true or not. This life is a glimpse of what could have been, what your life could be like..." he trailed off.

"If..." Heero prompted.

"Can't you guess?" Cliff said, gesturing around them.

"If...if I had...never left Relena," Heero said, sighing at the end. "Great, wonderful. How long did you say this would last?"

"As long as it needs to. That all depends on you." A shout was heard from the kitchen. "Sorry Heero, but I need to go help with the Thanksgiving dinner. We have a lot of people coming over today," Cliff said turning to the kitchen.

"Yeah, about that. Who's coming?" Heero asked, not moving from his spot.

"You'll see," Cliff replied.

"Damn it. Well, will you always be here?"

"I need to go help the other cooks now," Cliff said, not answering the question. He disappeared into the kitchen. Heero was about to follow him, but decided against it. If he was going to live in this...glimpse of a life, then he would have to act the part. He would just live it out, and then go back to his normal life. No problem, right? Heero sighed, and tried to make his way back to Relena's- and his- room. Turning the corner, he nearly knocked over another person. That had been happening a lot lately. He glanced down, and was quite surprised to see Relena looking up at him. Or at least, the girl LOOKED like Relena. There was something different though. She was shorter, for one. And her eyes were a darker blue. Heero had seen those eyes before. Then it occurred to him that he saw them everyday when he looked in the mirror. The thought caused Heero to stiffen. He then realized that the girl had said something.

"What?" he asked quickly. The girl rolled her eyes.

"I said," she replied exasperatedly, "good morning Daddy." Daddy? The girl had to be at least fifteen, and she was still calling him daddy? Wait a second...daddy! This kid was his? He looked back down at her. No wonder she looked like Relena.

"Morning," Heero mumbled, before brushing past her and continuing down the hall. If that girl was his child, then she couldn't be fifteen. It wasn't possible. The oldest she could be was around fourteen or so. Heero was so lost in thought that he didn't see the person walking quickly down the hall towards him. The other person wasn't paying attention to anything either, so the two collided in the middle of the hall, sending the other boy sprawling out on the floor. He sat up and combed a hand threw his hair, before looking up. Heero suddenly found himself looking into a smaller version of himself, which was kind of freaky. The main difference was that this boy had Relena's eyes.

"Oh, sorry dad," the boy said. "Didn't see you." He picked himself up off the floor. "Have you seen Angie yet this morning?" Heero blinked.

"Who?" Oops, bad move. The Heero-clone looked at him weirdly.

"Angie, you know, my twin sister?" Twin? Whoa...

"I know who she is," Heero snapped. The boy blinked. "She went that way," he said, gesturing down the opposite hallway.

"Ok thanks Dad! I'll see you later." With that, the boy dashed off down the hall. Heero watched him go, and then started walking again. Not much later after that, a loud scream pierced through the air. Heero identified it as a crying baby. Geez, how many kids did he have! He was standing in the hallway listening to the screaming, when a door opened behind him.

"Oh Heero, good," Relena said, poking her head out into the hallway. Shit, he'd passed their bedroom door. "You're going to check on Lena," she continued, starting to disappear. Heero noticed her hair was still wet from her shower, but she was already dressed.

"I'm what?" Heero asked. Man, he felt really stupid right now. He had no idea what was going on, and he wasn't acting like himself. Far from it, actually. Relena looked at him.

"Well, you were walking to the baby's room, so I figured you were going to check on her."

"O-Oh yeah. That's what I was doing."

"Did you get your coffee?" Heero scowled.

"They kicked me out of the kitchen," he grumbled. Relena chuckled, and shut the bedroom door. That left Heero alone, with HIS crying baby. Heero walked along, pinpointing the noise to one of the rooms, and opened the door. He cringed involuntarily as the sound got louder, and then stopped abruptly. Looking warily into the room, Heero's eyes landed on a crib, and a baby girl standing up, clutching her small hands on the rail. As soon as she saw Heero, she stopped crying and her face broke out into a toothless smile as she squealed with delight. Heero couldn't stop the small smile from forming on his face. Then it occurred to him that he had no idea what to do. He slowly approached the crib, not sure if he should pick up the child, that he now noticed had snot running down from her nose. Before he got the chance to do anything though, Relena came rushing in. She picked up the girl, and wiped her nose.

"Don't worry Heero. I just remembered she's probably hungry," Relena said, lifting up her shirt and bringing the baby to her breast. Heero watched, not able to pull his eyes away.

"You're still breastfeeding her?" he asked, and then blinked, wondering why he had asked that.

"We're doing both," Relena replied, unaware of Heero's uncertainty about everything. "I'm supposed to be weaning her by now." Heero nodded.

"Oh..." he replied. He was probably supposed to know what that meant.

"Are the kids awake yet?" Relena asked.

"Uh, I saw Angie and..." Heero trailed off, not knowing the other boy's name.

"Oh, Josh is probably still in bed. I swear, he'd sleep until three if we let him," Relena said, shaking her head. Heero nodded. He wasn't sure who Josh was, but he hoped it was Angie's twin. He didn't think he could deal with four kids.

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There are so many children in this fic... Just wait till everyone else shows up with _their_ families. :)

-Maxine


	3. Chapter 3

A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been -Chapter 3

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Later that day, Heero sat reading the newspaper in one of the palace's many living rooms, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Relena's guests. He had managed to avoid seeing anyone all morning, so that was a plus. However, he had no idea who these people were that were coming, and most likely he was supposed to know them well. Just as he was thinking this, the doorbell chimed overhead. Heero saw Pagan, who was remarkably still alive and well, rush by to play his part as butler and let the guests in. Cringing, Heero slouched lower in his seat. He saw Relena run by the entrance, pause, and come back to look at him.

"Come on, honey," she said, gesturing with her hand. "Someone's here." Reluctantly, Heero rose and followed her out the door to the hallway. As soon as he saw who it was that had arrived, he could have kicked himself. Duh, of course! Who else would Relena invite to a Thanksgiving dinner other then the people closest to her? Heero relaxed somewhat as Zechs enveloped Relena in a hug. Noin did the same and the two turned to Heero who tried to smile, though he was sure it looked as uncertain as he felt. He had no idea how he was supposed to act around these two; he hadn't seen them in years either. The smile seemed to be enough for Zechs, but Noin insisted on the whole hugging thing. The reunion was soon broken as other younger voices were heard. Heero cringed. Of course, everyone would have kids by now. In walked two kids. The older one, a boy, was carrying another little boy, who looked to be about three, and beside him walked his obviously younger sister.

"Justin!" Relena cried, taking the toddler from the older boy's arms. "You're growing up so fast!" she cooed in baby talk, and then wrapped her free arm around the older boy. "Hey Mike, how are you?" Mike smiled.

"I'm good, Aunt Relena. Enjoying the five days off from school."

"I bet. And you Crystal?" Relena asked, turning to the younger girl.

"I don't wanna go back!" she cried. "I hate fourth grade! It is SOOO much harder than third!" Relena chuckled.

"Well come in, everybody. The others should be here soon. We can wait for them in the entrance room." Relena led the group to the said room, and then left quickly to tell the servants to start serving drinks. That left Heero alone with them, and he was uncomfortable with the silence.

"So Heero," Zechs spoke up. "How's your job going?" Heero blinked. Shit, he didn't even know what his job WAS!

"Uh, it's going fine. No problems," he answered.

"That's good. We're thinking of moving back to Mars as Preventor agents. Now that the kids are old enough to handle it, I think it would be a good experience," Zechs said. He settled back into the couch. "Noin doesn't agree with me," he went on, casting a glance at his wife who glared at him.

"Relena wouldn't like it either. She wouldn't get to see you as much," Heero answered automatically. He knew it would be true. Zechs nodded.

"I know. We haven't decided yet." The doorbell went off again, and soon Wufei and Sally came in with their children. Heero watched as his own two oldest came running in before leading the older three of Wufei's four kids out the door, undoubtedly to a rec. room somewhere. He found it funny that Wufei's fist two kids were girls, and twins at that. They looked younger than his set of twins, but he wasn't sure. Their other two were boys.

After Wufei, Trowa arrived with- Heero blinked- Dorothy! A very pregnant Dorothy at that. They had two small children of their own so far, a boy and a girl. They probably hadn't been married long. Maybe that had something to do with the reason that Heero had never gotten the invitation to QUATRE and Dorothy's wedding; she'd married Trowa instead. The doorbell rang again, which meant it was either Duo or Quatre. Heero guessed it was Quatre, because he was always punctual. Therefore, he was a little surprised to see Duo walk in with his family. He immediately relaxed though, when he recognized all the faces in the family. Thank God, finally some people he knew. Duo and Hilde had the most children out of all of them. As of now, they had five, but Heero knew Hilde was pregnant with another, though it wasn't quite noticeable yet. He wasn't sure if they had told anyone in this life yet though, so he kept his mouth shut. Glancing around, he noticed how many kids there were just in the room, not counting the ones that had gone to the rec. room. He cringed inwardly, knowing that three of them were his. No sooner had he thought this, when another miniature, VERY miniature, Heero dashed into the room. Heero blinked as the boy who looked just like he did, except with lighter hair, ran up to him, hugged his leg, then rushed off again, this time with Dan in tow from the Maxwell's. Okaaaay...make that FOUR of them were his. That one must have been Josh, so now he just had to find out what Angie's twin was named. Josh looked to be about the same age as Dan. The three older Maxwells, one girl and two boys who all sported long braids hanging down their backs, followed the two younger boys out, leaving two-year-old Cindy with their mother.

(A/N: IF YOU'RE CONFUSED ABOUT ALL THE KIDS, DON'T WORRY! JUST READ THE END OF THE NEXT CHAPTER WHEN IT COMES OUT!)

The adults sat around talking for a while, while the younger kids sat and played on the floor. Different conversations were going on at the same time, so Heero just kind of listened to them all. Next to him, he heard Hilde ask Trowa if Cathy was going to be able to make it. Heero squinted his eyes a little. Who was Cathy? The name sounded familiar...oh yeah! Trowa's sister, or surrogate sister. He didn't really think they were related, but who knew?

"She's coming with Quatre," Trowa replied, taking a sip from his glass. Heero's eyes widened. Quatre? What the heck? He really didn't know anything about this life. The doorbell rang again, and Heero figured it had to be Quatre, because he was the only one not there. He wasn't wrong.

A little while after Quatre and Cathy arrived, with no kids and, Heero noticed, no wedding rings on their fingers, the men, minus Zechs who'd run over to Preventor HQ to pick up some document, left the women to go play pool. As the group trudged down the hallway, Heero stuck close to Duo, the only one he felt he actually knew. He figured he'd keep quiet for a while and see if he could figure out some things about this life. It was quiet as the group picked teams, Heero and Trowa vs. the other three, and got their sticks ready. Then Duo started talking.

"So Trowa," he said, aiming the cue ball for the break. "I see you've been busy lately." He hit the ball to the triangle formation opposite him, sending the colored balls rolling across the table.

"What do you mean?" Trowa asked, scanning the table for his next hit.

"Well, you've been married five years, and already you have two kids and Dorothy's pregnant with a third." Trowa blushed a little, but it was barely noticeable.

"We're solids," he told Heero after he hit the 3-ball in. Heero nodded. "Dorothy and I both wanted children," Trowa said, looking at Duo. "So we figured, why wait? I mean, the rest of you have lots of kids. I guess we wanted to catch up." He smirked as he said this.

"I don't have any children," Quatre spoke up, hitting a striped ball in. "I want kids...I NEED at least one as an heir for the Winner Corporation, but I want a lot." He missed on his next shot. Heero noticed in fell a little quiet after this, before Quatre spoke up again. "By the way, Trowa, I wanted to talk to you about something." By this point Heero and Wufei had taken their turns, so it was Trowa's turn again. He glanced at Quatre, who looked a little too serious, as he aimed.

"Go ahead," he said, thinking whatever it was, the other guys could listen. Quatre hesitated a second, and then shrugged.

"I'm thinking of asking Catherine to marry me," he stated matter-of-factly. Trowa's eyes widened and he jerked, sending the cue ball straight to the corner pocket, hitting nothing along the way. He stared after it for a minute before looking at Quatre.

"What!" he exclaimed. Quatre sighed.

"I said I'm thinking of-"

"I know, I heard you," Trowa snapped, cutting him off. Quatre's eyes narrowed quickly, then returned to normal.

"I just thought I'd let you know, seeing as she's your sister." This was news to Heero. He'd thought they weren't really related. Maybe they weren't, and they just called each other brother and sister... He turned his attention back to the conversation.

"What do you want, my permission?" Trowa asked. Quatre shook his head.

"It's not like you can stop me. She's older than you, so it's not like you have to play the protective older brother."

"You mean like Zechs did for Heero," Wufei stated, speaking for the first time. Quatre smiled, as if remembering something that was funny, and nodded. Heero noticed that the others were sort of smiling too, and Duo looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter. Heero decided to glare at them all, which only caused them to smile wider.

"Yeah," Quatre finally said, agreeing with Wufei. "I mean, when he found out Heero was with Relena, he came all the way back from Mars to make sure they couldn't sleep together." Now Heero remembered THAT.

"He failed though," he said without thinking. Duo snorted.

"Yeah, no joke. He didn't find out until he learned she was pregnant. Man was he pissed!" Heero could imagine that.

"I think Relena was just as mad though, because it messed up the wedding plans," Wufei said. Heero blinked. They'd gotten married that early?

"She could have pushed the wedding back until AFTER she gave birth," Trowa stated.

"She didn't want to be a mother out of wedlock," Heero said, or more accurately, guessed. The others nodded. "It was Duo's fault in the first place." Duo blinked.

"MY fault!" he exclaimed. "How was it MY fault?"

"You got Hilde pregnant, and because of that Relena wanted kids. That's the reason I-" Heero stopped talking. He was about to say, 'left,' but remembered just in time. Duo must of thought he was going to say something else though, because he smirked.

"Maxwell didn't even know Hilde was pregnant until she was three months along," Wufei said, smirking. Duo flushed.

"Ahh, well, how was I supposed to know? Hilde didn't tell me!"

"Duo, she looked like she'd swallowed a soccer ball, even at three months," Heero pointed out. He remembered this too.

"Well, she was eating a lot!" Duo protested.

"Because she was pregnant," Wufei said. Duo opened his mouth to say something, but opted for crossing his arms and sulking instead.

"But the point is," Quatre said, steering them back on track, "that even though you're her brother, you can't exactly stop me."

"I can't?" Trowa asked skeptically.

"Nope. Though I would feel much better if you were ok with it." Trowa didn't answer. "Trowa, come on! We've been together for THREE years now!"

"Two and a half," Trowa grumbled.

"Whatever. There's not much else we can do as a couple besides tying the knot." Trowa glanced up sharply.

"You've slept with her!"

"I didn't say that," Quatre said defensively.

"Have you?" Trowa asked suspiciously. Quatre didn't answer for a minute, and then sighed.

"Two and a half years is a long time, Trowa," he said weakly. Trowa glared full force at the blonde, and then sighed resignedly.

"I just don't want her to get hurt, Quatre," he said. Quatre's eyes narrowed.

"Oh don't worry, I would NEVER hurt her. I'm not the type to just leave people after they've finally been engaged. In case you've forgotten, I wasn't the one who left in my first engagement!" he snapped. Trowa flinched slightly, and looked away.

"Ooooh, Quat. That was a low blow," Duo said, wincing. Heero had no idea what they were talking about.

"That was not very honorable Quatre," Wufei stated. Quatre sighed.

"I know. Sorry Trowa. It wasn't your fault."

"Quatre," Trowa said after a minute, looking up. "I would be honored to have you as a brother-in-law." Quatre blinked and then smiled widely.

"Seriously?" Trowa nodded. "Haha! Yes!" Quatre exclaimed, punching the air. He looked around as he noticed the others staring at him. "Eh heh, uh, should we continue our game?" he asked, gesturing to the table. The others laughed quickly, and they continued playing.

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Backstory, yay! Hehe... :sweatdrop: 

-Maxine


	4. Chapter 4

A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been -Chapter 4

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Four games later, the five made their way back to their respective partners. Heero still felt that he knew virtually nothing of this life, and was trying to figure out what to do about it. He wanted to tell someone, but telling Relena would be a bad idea because he'd have to explain his REAL life, in which she wasn't a part. The only other people he knew well enough to tell were the four walking with him down the hall. And Zechs, but Heero was pretty sure Zechs would take the news as well as Relena would. He hadn't seen Wufei, Trowa, or Quatre in about ten years, so that left Duo. The only problem with that was that Duo might tell everyone else, by accident of course. Actually, Heero didn't really believe that. He knew Duo could keep secrets well, if you really wanted him to. Making his decision, he tapped Duo on the shoulder, asking him if they could talk in private. Duo glanced at him oddly for a second, before it registered that something must seriously be wrong. Calling to the other guys that they would be talking in some random room if needed, Duo lead the way back down the hall. He took a quick detour into the kitchen, and was quickly kicked out. But not before he had grabbed two beers from the fridge. Heero couldn't resist smirking. Walking back into the Pool Room they had just been at, Duo plopped down on a stool by the bar.

"So, Heero my man, what's wrong?" he asked, attempting to pry the bottle top off of his beer. Heero sat down in another one of the seats and easily popped the top off his bottle, before taking a long drink. Alcohol was just what he needed.

"Um...I don't really know how to say this without sounding completely insane, but bare with me. I don't talk a lot as it is, so this'll be one of those moments you can blackmail me with," Heero said, studying the bottle in his hand. Duo smiled.

"Go ahead, I promise I won't interrupt until your done." Heero nodded.

"This...this isn't my life." Duo raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but Heero held up a hand. "You promised," he reminded. Duo shut his mouth and nodded, motioning for him to continue. Heero sighed, trying to figure out where to start. He decided to start with the fact that he was really single and had no children. Duo blinked a few times at this bit of information. Heero then explained all about his meeting Cliff, ending with how he woke up with Relena wrapped around his waist. He left out all the major facts of his life, which he would soon find out was a worthless attempt. As he finished, he looked at Duo to see how he had taken the news. Duo just stared at him with wide eyes.

"So you're saying," he started to say, then cut in with "I can talk now, right?" Heero nodded. "Ok, so you're saying that this life is...all fake? I find that hard to believe, because I have all sorts of memories from it."

"Well, maybe it's not fake, it's just an alternate universe or something," Heero suggested. Duo nodded thoughtfully.

"You said you're single?" Heero knew this was coming. He nodded slowly. "You fought in the war though, right?"

"Yes, in Wing Zero."

"Ok...did you ever go out with Relena?" Apparently, he was trying to figure out where this life went different.

"Yeah, after the war."

"And did you-"

"Yes we slept together," Heero cut in. "But only once." Duo blinked.

"Once?"

"Yeah, like I said, she wanted kids after she found out Hilde was pregnant. We were nineteen, and it just happened. Afterwards, it hit me what I'd done, and I realized that she really might get pregnant, and then I'd be a father. That..." Heero paused and looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, to put it bluntly...it scared the hell out of me. I wasn't ready to be a dad yet, so I left. In the middle of the night; took all my stuff and fled." Duo didn't look too happy now.

"Coward," he muttered.

"I know." Duo sat back.

"Well here, you stayed until the next morning. Three months later, you proposed. A month after that, she got pregnant with the twins." Heero nodded.

"Right. So does this mean you...believe me?" Duo looked at him, slightly shocked.

"Of course! Heero, I know you too well, and no matter where the hell you are, you'd NEVER make up a story like THAT." Heero chuckled a little, lightening the mood. "So tell me about your life," Duo said.

"Well, I went to outer space after I left Relena. You were the one that found me a month later, working at STCA."

"STCA...hmm, I think I've heard of that..." Heero's eyes widened.

"You think! It's the biggest computer company in the market. We're pretty much a monopoly!" Heero exclaimed. Duo shook his head.

"Nah, the major company here is Nicro Products and Company." Heero blinked.

"They were our major rivals before we came up with the new security protection. Now they're pretty much bankrupt." Duo laughed.

"That's funny, sorry, continue."

"So you found me, told the others where I was, but they left me alone. I dropped my job at Preventors completely, and pretty much lost contact with everyone. Except you insist on calling me at least once a month, and I usually spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at your house."

"Do I have my family?" Duo asked. His sounded worried. Heero nodded.

"Yeah, actually, your kids are the only ones here I know. Mandy, Jake, Matt, Dan, Cindy, and Hilde's...three months pregnant with another." Duo's eyes widened. "Uh, shit, tell me you knew that," Heero said.

"Oh, I knew. It's just that we haven't told anyone yet. We were gonna tell them today."

"Oh ok, but like I said, those are the ONLY kids I know. I don't even know Angie's twin's name."

"Chris," Duo answered automatically. "They're fourteen."

"Tell me about everyone else's kids," Heero prompted. Duo nodded and took a deep breath, naming all the Gundam pilots' kids' names and ages. (A/N: SEE THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER TO GET THIS INFO.) When he finished, Heero sat quietly, absorbing the information. "I'm never going to remember all that," he stated. Duo chuckled. "So, tell me. What's the whole deal between Trowa, Quatre, and Dorothy?"

"Oh geez," Duo said, throwing a hand over his eyes for a dramatic effect. "THAT is one messed up story. Ok, let's see. Well, Dorothy was originally engaged to Quatre; everyone saw that coming." Heero nodded.

"Right, they were engaged in my life too. The last time I heard from Quatre was when he told me they were getting married. But I never got an invitation to the wedding. I don't even know if they're married or not. You never told me anything, probably assuming I knew, and I just never bothered to ask," Heero said.

"They would have invited you had they gotten married," Duo said thoughtfully. "They must never of. They broke it off before they got the chance to send out invitations. That's actually a good thing though. Well, anyway..." Duo took a sip of his drink. "Their plan was to have the wedding a year after their engagement. Everything was fine for about seven months. Then after that, everything was one big, messed up blur. It all happened really fast.

"First of all, Dorothy suddenly had this meeting to go to on L5 while Quatre was at this long, month long, conference thing on Earth. You know Dorothy works in the ESUN, right?" Duo asked.

"As a representative for the old Romefeller, right?"

"Yeah. So, continuing, Trowa's circus just happened to be touring on L5."

"Trowa still worked at the circus?" Heero asked.

"It's his full job," Duo replied. "He dropped being a part time Preventor after marrying Dorothy."

"Really...See, soon after I got Quatre's engagement announcement, Trowa dropped his job at the circus."

"He's a full time Preventor?" Duo asked, slightly shocked. Heero nodded.

"So are Wufei and Sally."

"Well, yeah, duh," Duo said, and then continued with his story. "So Dorothy decided to drop by the circus to say Hi to everyone. When Trowa asked about Quatre..." Duo paused. "Don't get me wrong, I like Dorothy and all, but I was really pissed at her after all this. Hell, we all were. But, nothing can stop true love from running its course." Duo shook his head. "Anyway, when Trowa asked about Quatre, she told him they had called off the wedding. They were both going separate ways. This shocked Trowa, of course, because Quatre hadn't told him. So Dorothy said that they hadn't told anyone yet, that the, and I quote, 'wound was still fresh.' Trowa couldn't contact Quatre to check up on him because he was at the meeting, and Dorothy 'didn't know where he was staying.'" Duo said, using his fingers to put quotation marks around that last statement.

"Of course, that was a bunch of bull shit," he continued. "Dorothy continued to hang around the circus, and became pretty good friends with Catherine. She also flirted with Trowa a lot. So, only like a week later, Trowa asked Dorothy to go out to dinner with him, and they went on their first date. They went on many more dates the next two weeks, and then they decided to go to this club or something one night. Trowa kinda didn't explain this part to me very well. I think he was embarrassed," Duo added.

"Trowa told you all this?" Heero asked, listening intently.

"You, me and Wufei," Duo replied. "He told Quatre something else. I don't think it was as detailed. The whole thing really wasn't Trowa's fault, you know. It's just that I really wanted to know what had happened, and he wanted to get it out in the open to someone, so he told us. Cleared a lot of things up, actually."

"So, they went to the club..." Heero prompted.

"Yeah," Duo nodded. "And got extremely drunk. That must have taken some effort, 'cause I've never known Trowa to get drunk. But anyway, one thing led to another, they made their way back to Trowa's trailer, and the next thing they knew, it was morning and neither one of 'em had any clothes on. Of course, by this point, Trowa really liked Dorothy, and he didn't care. Neither did Dorothy, and they ended up spending the whole day in bed.

"A week or so later, Quatre calls Trowa." Heero made a hissing sound. "Yeah, tell me about it," Duo said, taking another drink. "He asked Trowa if he knew where Dorothy was, because she hadn't been at the hotel she was supposed to be at for the past week, and the hotel was, duh, on the same colony as Trowa's circus. Quatre was worried about her; he had every right to be. So, Trowa probably paled big time, and he was like, 'well why do you care?' or something. Then Quatre got all confused, because, you know, Dorothy was his fiancée. Trowa got pissed, said he hadn't seen her, hung up and went and cussed out Dorothy, AFTER she explained everything out of guilt. So then Trowa felt really bad because Quatre was his best friend. Dorothy felt bad, because she really did love Trowa at the time, and hadn't wanted to be mean to Quatre like that. So the two decided to tell Quatre everything.

"After that, um...well, let's just say Quatre wasn't too pleased. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. He knew it wasn't Trowa's fault, but he wouldn't speak to him for about three months. After Quat left, Trowa got mad all over again, and walked out on Dorothy who was close to tears. I don't know if you heard about the whole thing on Libra? When Trowa told her it was sad when a girl couldn't cry?" Heero nodded.

"Yeah, I remember him telling us that," he replied.

"Right, well, Dorothy cried," Duo stated. "That made Trowa stop and look at her in shock, which was when she told him that she loved him. Trowa didn't reply, and went missing for about two weeks. Next thing we knew, he showed up at the Peacecraft mansion, wanting to speak to," he pointed at Heero, "you. Said you were good at giving advice or something. I found it kinda hard to believe, but hey, whatever." Heero glared at him. It felt kind of good knowing SOMEONE liked his advice. Not that he gave advice much, but oh well. "You gave him some speech revolving around how you should always act on your emotions. I think you told him that if he really did love Dorothy, then he should go find her, and not to worry about Quatre. He did just that. About a year and a half later, they got married, with you as Trowa's best man."

"Me?" Heero asked, slightly surprised.

"Yep. Trowa would have asked Quatre, but that would have been...weird," Duo replied. Heero nodded in agreement. "Not even six months after that, Dorothy gave birth to their first child," Duo continued.

"She was pregnant at the wedding," Heero guessed.

"Yep. And that's that. So, what do you think?" Duo asked, leaning back against the bar.

"I think that's one messed up story." Heero replied. Duo nodded.

"Tell me about it."

"Now, what's going on between Quatre and Catherine?" Heero asked. Duo groaned.

"Oh man. That's screwed up too, though it's not as bad. Basically, the circus happened to stop on L4, where Quatre lives, so he decided to visit them. Trowa worked their full time by now. Catherine took it upon herself to make sure that the visit went well, because she felt extremely bad for Quatre after the whole other incident. I guess after that, Quatre saw her in a new light or something. When the circus stopped there again, a year or so later, he went to visit them, or more accurately, Catherine. He took her out to dinner, much to Trowa's dismay. Some time after that, they started going steady. I wasn't sure if he'd EVER asked her to marry him. I say it's about time."

"Why does it bother Trowa so much?"

"I don't really think it bothers him. I think the over-protectiveness comes with every brother, older or younger. But like Quatre said, it's only the older who are actually a threat to the boyfriends."

"But...Trowa and Catherine aren't really related, are they?" Heero asked. Duo blinked.

"Actually, yeah they are," he replied, scratching his head.

"Really? Wow..."

"Yeah. After Wufei had his set of twins, it occurred to all of us how lucky our kids were to have siblings. So, you, Trowa, and I decided to get our DNA tested to see if we had any living relatives. Quatre and Wufei both knew about their family." Heero sat up straighter.

"I got mine tested too?" he asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

"Yeah," Duo said slowly. "No living relatives. You had an older brother though, which was interesting. He died at the very beginning of the war." Heero's eyes widened.

"Hn...interesting. You?" Duo sighed.

"No living relatives, I had a younger sister who died at birth or something. She was like five minutes old. It was soon after that that I became an orphan, because my dad had already been killed, and my mom died giving birth."

"And Trowa? Does he have any other relatives besides Catherine?"

"A great aunt somewhere. He didn't care too much about that. It was the fact that Catherine was his two-year-older sister that shocked the hell out of him."

"I bet," Heero said.

"Catherine was hugging him like there was no tomorrow, calling him Triton, and crying hysterically. She thought he'd been killed a long time ago."

"Triton?"

"Yep, but she still calls him Trowa...thank God," Duo muttered. Heero smirked. "But man, all the girls were crying. Trowa eyes were huge at first, as Catherine hugged him. After at least two minutes he started hugging her back. He even cried a little. If I'm correct, I think Quatre was crying too...or at least he had tears in his eyes," Duo said. "That's everything really." It was quiet for a while as the two finished their drinks.

"Were Relena and I the first to get married, other than Noin and Zechs? I know you and Hilde didn't get married for a while," Heero asked after a while.

"We were twenty-two," Duo said defensively. "But yeah, you were the first to get married. I think your wedding was the reason Wufei took so damn long to ask Sally to marry him." Duo chuckled.

"Why?" Heero asked warily.

"Oh man, I know Relena has the tape around somewhere. We really should watch it. You should see your face when you had to take the garter off Relena. Zechs was glaring at you, and you looked nervous as hell. Plus, you were blushing! It was great!" Duo cried, laughing hysterically. Heero glared at him.

"That's not funny," he growled. Duo stopped laughing abruptly.

"I just realized something," he said, eyes wide. "Trowa caught the garter at your wedding. And Dorothy caught the bouquet! Why didn't I notice that before?" He sat back. "Weird."

"How ironic," Heero said, somewhat sarcastically. Duo started chuckling again. "Now what?" Heero asked irritably.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about all these things you might not know about," Duo said. "Are Wufei and Sally married in your life?"

"Yes. I don't know how many kids they have though. Last I heard, Sally was pregnant, but that was a long time ago. I don't know if she had the twins or not."

"That's what I was just thinking about," Duo stated. "Wufei's face when he heard he was having twins! Oh man! Yours too, when you found out. It was too good. But Wufei was worse, 'cause Sally told him at the same time that they were having two girls. He almost fainted, and kept repeating the word 'girls' over and over again." Duo's laughter slowed down. "Ahh, priceless. He was thrilled at their birth though. And nervous as hell. He was a wreck. Poor guy. You held a gun to my head when I tried to tell you Relena would be ok," Duo accused, pointing a finger at Heero. Heero blinked, and then chuckled.

"I did?" he asked. "Well, for what it's worth, sorry."

"Hmph. I was just trying to help, too. After all, I'd been through Hilde giving birth, I knew what it was like," Duo said, pouting. Heero smirked.

"So, what are my kids like?" he asked. Duo looked at him. "Well, we don't know how long I'll be here, so I need to at least look like I know my own children."

"You're not going to tell Relena?" Duo questioned.

"Oh yeah, that'd go over REAL well," Heero replied, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

"I see what you mean. She wouldn't take it too well that you left her in the middle of the night," Duo said.

"You can't tell anyone what I told you, ok Duo? I had to tell someone so they could help me out here," Heero stated. Duo nodded.

"Scout's honor. But, uh, Heero...I have to go back to L2 on Sunday."

"Shit," Heero mumbled. "Well, couldn't the REST of your family go back, but you could stay and say that...you're going to check up on Preventors or something? You know, just stay for a week or so. I doubt I'll even be here that long." Duo looked a little doubtful. "Come on, you ARE a part time Preventor, right?"

"Oh fine, I'll see what I can do. But I'll only be able to stay a week. I do have a business to run." Heero relaxed a little.

"I'm only going to say this once, because I already feel...out-of-character enough as it is, but...thanks, Duo. You've been a major help." Duo smiled widely.

"Hey, no problem, buddy! What are friends for, right?" Heero nodded. "So, you wanted to know about your kids, huh? Well...Angie and Chris fight a lot. Especially lately, because Angie has a crush on one of his best friends from school or something. I don't know the whole story. They're both really good with computers. Angie plays soccer, but Chris is more of a hockey player."

"Relena let him play hockey?"

"She was totally against it, but it was that or rugby, so she chose the sport with pads." Heero chuckled. "Josh is really hyper, but lazy too. He sleeps half the morning. Dan and he are really good friends 'cause they're the same age. I think he's starting to like baseball. Wufei got him a glove and bat for his birthday last year, because his son, Theo, is also into it. Lena...is not even a year old, so there isn't much you need to know about that." Duo looked slightly nervous suddenly. "Uh, except for the fact that since you had three kids before her, you'll probably be expected to do diapers and stuff." Heero grimaced.

"Oh well. I can handle that...I think. I've been around your family enough." He sighed. "Are there any important dates I should know about? Birthdays or anything? I know Relena's is in April, but I shouldn't be here for that."

"Oh yeah!" Duo exclaimed. "Duh, Lena's birthday is December 23, right before Christmas. You're anniversary is...um...sometime in January. I don't remember the exact date." Heero made a mental note to find that out. "The other kids' birthdays are in the summer, so no need to worry about them." Heero nodded.

"You know, we should probably get back to the others," Heero said, glancing at his watch.

"Oh shit, that's right. Oops," Duo mumbled, standing up. "I want another beer," he complained, stretching his arms above his head.

"Baka," Heero muttered.

"Hey," Duo warned. "I've got blackmail on you, so you'd better be nice to me these next couple of weeks," he teased. Heero smirked, and followed Duo upstairs.

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So. Many. _Kids!_ Hehe, here they all are:

Heero/Relena:  
- Angie & Chris - 14 - Josh - 6 - Lena - Almost one

Duo/Hilde:  
- Mandy - 15 - Jake - 13 - Matt - 8 - Dan - 6 - Cindy - 2 - Hilde's three months pregnant

Trowa/Dorothy:  
- Trey - 4 - Amanda - 2 - Dorothy's eight months pregnant

Quatre/Catherine:  
- Uh...none! They're soon to be married though.

Wufei/Sally:  
- Jennifer (Jenna) & Jessica (Jess) - 10 - Theo - 8 - Scott - 4

Zechs/Noin:  
- Mike - 12 - Crystal - 9 - Justin - 3

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lol, told you there were a lot. And look, more backstory:snorts:

-Maxine


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